McWilliam, A. , Cisowski, C. M., Ye, Z., Speirits, F. C. , Goette, J. B. , Barnett, S. and Franke-Arnold, S. (2024) A Topological Approach to Characterising Optical Skyrmions. In: Complex Light and Optical Forces XVIII, Photonics West, San Francisco, California, United States, 29 January – 1 February 2024, 1290105 -1. ISBN 9781510670624 (doi: 10.1117/12.3002420)
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Abstract
Skyrmions are topologically protected field configurations characterised by a topological index, the skyrmion number. Optical skyrmions are ideally suited to investigate topological structures due to the ease of generating arbitrary light fields, and the freedom from energy constraints encountered by, for example, magnetic skyrmions. Building on our previous work of a topologically defined skyrmion number,1 here we demonstrate the conservation of the skyrmion number of hedgehog skyrmions and bimerons under propagation. We furthermore generate tunable multi-skyrmions from superpositions of oppositely polarised Gaussian and split-vortex beams of different waists, and find that the skyrmion number is conserved as a function of waist scaling. For both cases, the topological definition of the skyrmion number forms an intuitive geometric approach to understanding the underlying topology and to identifying the individual skyrmion structures.
| Item Type: | Conference Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Skyrmions, optical skyrmions, topology, structured light, vector beams, orbital angular momentum. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Barnett, Professor Stephen and Franke-Arnold, Professor Sonja and Speirits, Dr Fiona and YE, Zhujun and Goette, Dr Joerg and McWilliam, Amy and Cisowski, Dr Claire Marie |
| Authors: | McWilliam, A., Cisowski, C. M., Ye, Z., Speirits, F. C., Goette, J. B., Barnett, S., and Franke-Arnold, S. |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QC Physics |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Research Group: | Optics |
| ISBN: | 9781510670624 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2024 SPIE |
| First Published: | First published in Proceedings of SPIE 12901:1290105 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy |
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